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The changing daylight hours thread


Boydie

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

With british summertime almost here ,is there anything special happening with it being the 100th anniversary of the occasion,although the first year it was May before it was first changed following a panic after the germans had first implemented it for better war productivity .

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Posted
  • Location: NE of Kendal 215m asl
  • Location: NE of Kendal 215m asl
On 3/17/2016 at 11:38 AM, Backtrack said:

Does anyone know that website where it gives you a comparison of today's sun strength vs another day in the year? 

 

For or example it'll say: today's sun us equivalent to September 31st

http://windowseat.ca/sun/

 

Here you go.

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL

Of course from Monday it'll be now dark in the morning again, although not for long.

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Posted
  • Location: The North Kent countryside
  • Weather Preferences: Hot summers, snowy winters and thunderstorms!
  • Location: The North Kent countryside

The longer days are certainly lifting my mood. To feel the suns warmth on my face again is truly invigorating.

 

I guess just as the moon affects us, so too does the sun.

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

If only we would keep BST all the year round?:D

Edited by Ed Stone
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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Well, I tried to access Willy Grim's wotsit, but failed...But, anyway, the weeping willows are coming into leaf, here.

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Posted
  • Location: Darlington
  • Weather Preferences: Warm dry summers
  • Location: Darlington

Not long till we can finally put the clocks forward again yes we lose an hour on the mornings for a time but it'll still be light before 7am

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
On 25/03/2016 at 8:47 PM, Ed Stone said:

If only we would keep BST all the year round?:D

We had BST all year from 1968 to 1971, an unmitigated disaster - I lived through it.  Riding a bike to work on icy roads because the sun didn't rise until around 9am.  Schoolkids being knocked down by dozy drivers as they made their way to school in the dark.  RoSPA shrilly denounced the experiment (it was an experiment), however the very same RoSPA now appears to support the madcap suggestion to reimpose all year BST.

All year BST was a political decision to make things easier for big business.  Bugger the plebs who had to make their way to school or work in the dark and ice.  What everyone seems to forget, is that however much we muck about with the clock, in mid-winter we only have about eight hours' of daylight.

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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL

Considering Winters are generally milder these days & most kids are now lazy can't be bothered to walk to school maybe BST all year wouldn't be as much of a disaster now. In Nordic countries they get by with much less daylight than we get in Winter & they get tons more cold weather than us yet they cope just fine. In some of the more northern areas all the kids wear high vis clothes going to and from school as it's dark pretty much all day & a lot of them do walk unlike the fat kids here. I just think Brits love a good moan. We should count ourselves lucky we get around 7 and a half hours of daylight in mid Winter and not zero like some places.

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

A surprising statement by wp but a lot has changed since 1968.From what I have read fatalities were down and it was only a few Scottish farmers that that spoiled it for the vast majority who benefited from a longer evening.Sure there would be a few weeks that are darker in the morning but the darkest mornings schools are closed for 2 weeks.There would not be the accident rate of 68 due to car improvements in braking and lighting and councils throw salt down when the temperature is 6 deg.

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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors
22 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

 councils throw salt down when the temperature is 6 deg.

Well they used to, this year they have been astonishingly stingy on all but the main roads.

Seriously anyone who remembers the late 60s experiment will recall it was mostly disliked, nothing much has changed.
It really is very difficult to be at work or whatever by 9am and it's still almost dark.
A lot of manual work involves much preparation like loading trucks and sorting out gear before teh actual job starts - this is all infinitely more difficult (and dangerous) when it's dark.

So much is made of the 'light evenings for longer' but what are people actually going to do after school or work when it's usually cold/wet/windy until April anyway. 
Like now the great majority will go inside and watch TV, go online or do some cooking and housework.

Something which is often mentioned is why on earth do we keep BST until late October - a month after Equinox - but not start it again until after equinox at spring?
The sunset and sunrise changes don't correspond exactly but why didn't they choose to go back to BST about the first week of March.
That would also keep it away from Easter which is perhaps not always a good thing.
 

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Scrap the idea messed my body clock up and in this day and age of 24 hr everything totally unnecessary leave the clocks one way or the other.

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

The main reason like me who would like bst in winter and double summertime is the period of mid January until late march when the majority of people are either in bed or having breakfast at home when it is clear daylight outside.The first thing my little girl said when the clocks went back last October was that she could not play out after school .

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Posted
  • Location: Skirlaugh, East Yorkshire
  • Location: Skirlaugh, East Yorkshire

Ah the old chestnut of BST+1 again. Solar noon at 2pm, sunrise never earlier than 5.30am (I get up at 5am for work on days) and light until nearly 11pm in the evening at the solstice (due to that early start, I go to bed at 10pm on days).

From a personal point of view it sounds absolutely awful. Not to mention even now at this point of the year, you'd have sunset at 8.30pm and sunrise at 7.45am. It'd be ridiculous.

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds
On 3/26/2016 at 2:08 AM, Frost HoIIow said:

Considering Winters are generally milder these days & most kids are now lazy can't be bothered to walk to school maybe BST all year wouldn't be as much of a disaster now. In Nordic countries they get by with much less daylight than we get in Winter & they get tons more cold weather than us yet they cope just fine. In some of the more northern areas all the kids wear high vis clothes going to and from school as it's dark pretty much all day & a lot of them do walk unlike the fat kids here. I just think Brits love a good moan. We should count ourselves lucky we get around 7 and a half hours of daylight in mid Winter and not zero like some places.

Well, that might be true where you live but it definitely isn't here - unless the hordes of school children I see every morning are imaginary. Although didn't BST all year actually reduce the number of road deaths when it was temporarily implemented in the late 60s/early 70s? 

Either way, the current way is fine by me. The sunsets are plenty late enough in summer.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam
On 26 March 2016 at 2:08 AM, Frost HoIIow said:

 In Nordic countries they get by with much less daylight than we get in Winter & they get tons more cold weather than us yet they cope just fine.

That is because they have adapted to the situation, they haven't got much choice. In this country, weather types are rarely prolonged enough to adapt. It might explain why we are always ruddy moaning. Also we are in that annoying zone of latitudes, where we are in between. Further south or further north, we wouldn't have been much of a debate over clock change. 

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
10 hours ago, reef said:

Ah the old chestnut of BST+1 again. Solar noon at 2pm, sunrise never earlier than 5.30am (I get up at 5am for work on days) and light until nearly 11pm in the evening at the solstice (due to that early start, I go to bed at 10pm on days).

From a personal point of view it sounds absolutely awful. Not to mention even now at this point of the year, you'd have sunset at 8.30pm and sunrise at 7.45am. It'd be ridiculous.

It's just one of those things that gets debated twice a year, but nothing will change thankfully. It's fine as it is, there is no perfect solution.

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Posted
  • Location: Rotherhithe, 5.8M ASL
  • Location: Rotherhithe, 5.8M ASL
22 hours ago, Summer Sun said:

How ironic the first day of BST its got that dark I've had to put the lights on

:rofl::nonono:

 

Furthermore quite a few have seen heavy wet snowfall this morning my body clock is all over the place BST I disapprove. 

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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
8 hours ago, Weather-history said:

That is because they have adapted to the situation, they haven't got much choice. In this country, weather types are rarely prolonged enough to adapt. It might explain why we are always ruddy moaning. Also we are in that annoying zone of latitudes, where we are in between. Further south or further north, we wouldn't have been much of a debate over clock change. 

But why can't people here adapt? our climate really isn't that bad not be able to "adapt" to. Sure it's a bit unpredictable at times but most of us including kids expect that as we rarely get to experience extremes like a lot of places do. Winters are generally mild and rarely do we get hot Summers, most of the year it's sort of in between with not much variation hence why we have a maritime climate, I don't think it's a climate that people need to adapt to unless one comes from the Tropics where it's hot all year round. It just goes back to my original comment that I think people here just love to moan when things could be a lot worse.

 

10 hours ago, cheese said:

Well, that might be true where you live but it definitely isn't here - unless the hordes of school children I see every morning are imaginary. Although didn't BST all year actually reduce the number of road deaths when it was temporarily implemented in the late 60s/early 70s? 

Either way, the current way is fine by me. The sunsets are plenty late enough in summer.

I think I heard something like that but I'm not certain tbh.

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam
14 hours ago, Frost HoIIow said:

But why can't people here adapt? our climate really isn't that bad not be able to "adapt" to. Sure it's a bit unpredictable at times but most of us including kids expect that as we rarely get to experience extremes like a lot of places do. Winters are generally mild and rarely do we get hot Summers, most of the year it's sort of in between with not much variation hence why we have a maritime climate, I don't think it's a climate that people need to adapt to unless one comes from the Tropics where it's hot all year round. It just goes back to my original comment that I think people here just love to moan when things could be a lot worse.

You've answered your own question,  the problems really only arrive when the extremes happen. How often do people drive in snow? I have driven with snow on roads only about 4 or 5 times in the last 3 years. A 17 year old passes their test during May 2013, they are nearly 20 now and they live in the south, how often have they driven in snow covered or indeed icy conditions in that period?  If you have regular  prolonged snow/icy conditions then you get use to the conditions, you adapt. It wouldn't surprise me if the accident rate is higher at the start of a severe cold spell than towards the end of it. 

It's  interesting when a prolonged hot spell comes to an end, rain and lower temperatures return, a lot of people still where summer clothing with no coats despite the weather has changed! They have not adapted to the change in weather. 

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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
10 hours ago, Weather-history said:

You've answered your own question,  the problems really only arrive when the extremes happen. How often do people drive in snow? I have driven with snow on roads only about 4 or 5 times in the last 3 years. A 17 year old passes their test during May 2013, they are nearly 20 now and they live in the south, how often have they driven in snow covered or indeed icy conditions in that period?  If you have regular  prolonged snow/icy conditions then you get use to the conditions, you adapt. It wouldn't surprise me if the accident rate is higher at the start of a severe cold spell than towards the end of it. 

It's  interesting when a prolonged hot spell comes to an end, rain and lower temperatures return, a lot of people still where summer clothing with no coats despite the weather has changed! They have not adapted to the change in weather. 

Yes people can get caught out but even then extremes rarely last long nor do they happen often, in terms of snow half a day at most of disruption whilst the major roads/motorways get cleared and salted, rarely do we get 2 full days in a row of snow falling & settling so most major roads do stay clear after being treated, of course pavements stay snowy and icy but most able bodied adults seem to drive these days anyway & besides we rarely get snow as deep as January 2010 when over a foot fell here...... 6 years has already passed since then and we haven't had snow as bad since then. That tells us extremes in this country happen once a blue moon so people should be able to adapt to the weather conditions in this country very easily - our weather is Atlantic dominated so apart from the odd strong winds and a bit of snow our climate 98% of the time isn't really extreme at all, in fact your videos seem to show a similar theme most of the year - more than half the sky covered in cloud and rain. Like I said yesterday our climate/seasonal daylight variations would only be a shock to people who come from the Tropics where there is only a wet/dry season and not a great difference in light levels through the year.

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

As of yesterday it is 100 years since the first change to 'British summertime'  !

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